19 April 2010

Obesity Panacea reports research at University of Texas that signs positioned next to lifts in university buildings, telling people that using the stairs used up 5 times as many calories as taking the lift (with an arrow to hidden stairs), triggered significantly more stair walking than previously. The effect was sustained over a period of four weeks after the signs were removed. No social psychology involved (although perhaps some loss of face at using the lift?), just information. (Would have been good to know whether the behaviour transferred to other contexts.)

Obesity Panacea also refers to a UK study where painting coloured lines on paved playgrounds in children's schools increased levels of physical activity (at least for a month after the intervention was made).

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I'm a psychologist and, having worked for many years in the design of user-centred products and services, am now Professor of User-Centred Design at University of Reading, UK.

Why Brain Attic?
In 'A Study in Scarlet' Arthur Conan Doyle wrote: "I believe that a man's brain is like a little empty attic, and you stock it with such furniture as you choose....the skillful workman will have...nothing but the tools which will help him doing his work..."
As we now know, Conan Doyle's analogy doesn't quite tell the full story of the brain but nevertheless this blog is a place for me to store notes that, if not logged here, might be forgotten.